Select a shape tool from the toolbar: Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, Shaper, or Line Segment.
Last updated on
Oct 25, 2026
Use shape tools and on-canvas widgets to draw and dynamically adjust vector shapes without switching tools.
Live shapes in Adobe Illustrator let you create rectangles, ellipses, polygons, lines, and other shapes that remain fully editable after drawing. You can adjust dimensions, corners, angles, and other properties using on-canvas widgets or the Transform panel without converting shapes to paths.
Use live shapes when you need shapes that stay editable throughout your design process. Live shapes preserve their geometric properties, letting you modify corners, add polygon sides, or create pie charts non-destructively. For advanced corner customization beyond basic radius adjustments, see Work with Live Corners. For basic drawing techniques, see Draw simple lines and shapes.
- Adobe Illustrator installed on your system
- Basic familiarity with the Illustrator toolbar and panels
Draw a live shape
Drag on the canvas to draw your shape. Press Shift while dragging to constrain proportions.
Select View > Show Bounding Box to display the bounding box if it's not visible.
In the Control panel, select Show Shape Widgets to display on-canvas controls.
Note
The Layers panel identifies live shapes by their type (Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, or Line) rather than generic path names, making them easy to identify and select.
Scale and rotate live shapes
Select the live shape using the Selection tool.
Drag any of the eight bounding box handles to scale the shape.
To rotate, move your cursor near a corner until the rotate icon appears, then drag.
Move and reposition shapes
Select the live shape you want to move.
Drag the center point widget to reposition the shape on the canvas.
Adjust polygon sides
Select a polygon shape you created with the Polygon tool.
Drag the side widget on the polygon to increase or decrease the number of sides between 3 and 11.
For more precise control, open the Transform panel by double-clicking any corner widget and enter a value between 3 and 1000 in the Polygon Side Count field.
Modify corner radius
Select a live shape with corners (rectangle, rounded rectangle, or polygon).
Drag any corner widget to adjust the corner radius uniformly.
To cycle between corner styles (Round, Inverted Round, Chamfer), Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (macOS) the corner widget, or press the Up or Down arrow keys while dragging.
To edit individual corners, select the Direct Selection tool, click an anchor point, then drag its corner widget.
For advanced corner options, double-click any corner widget using the Direct Selection tool to open the Corners dialog.
Note
When you drag corner widgets to their maximum limit, Illustrator displays the rounded corner preview in red to indicate you've reached the boundary.
Create pie shapes from ellipses
Select the Ellipse tool and draw an ellipse or circle.
Drag one of the pie widgets (circular handles near the edge) to define the pie's start angle.
Drag the second pie widget to define the end angle and complete your pie shape.
To swap start and end angles, open the Transform panel and select the Invert Pie option.
Use the Transform panel for precise control
Select a live shape on the canvas.
Double-click any corner widget, or select Window > Transform to open the Transform panel.
Adjust properties such as width, height, rotation angle, corner radius, or polygon-specific settings like side count and side length.
Tip
In the Properties panel (Window > Properties), click More Options in the Transform section for quick access to live shape properties. For complete property definitions, see the Live shape properties reference.
Toggle bounding boxes and widgets
To toggle the bounding box visibility, press Shift + Ctrl + B (Windows) or Shift + Command + B (macOS), or select View > Show Bounding Box or Hide Bounding Box.
To toggle shape widgets, select any shape drawing tool and click the Show Shape Widgets or Hide Shape Widgets button in the Control panel.
Select live shapes
To select all live shapes in your document, select Select > Same > Shape.
To select a specific live shape, expand the Layers panel and click the shape name (Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, or Line).
Convert between live shapes and paths
To convert a path to a live shape, select the path and choose Object > Shape > Convert to Shape.
To convert a live shape to an editable path, select the shape and choose Object > Shape > Expand Shape.
Note
Converting a live shape to a path removes its dynamic editing capabilities. You'll no longer be able to use widgets to adjust corners, sides, or other live shape properties.
Live shapes maintain their editable properties until you explicitly expand them to paths. This flexibility lets you refine designs iteratively without committing to final geometry. For optimal performance when working with live shapes, enable Real-Time Drawing by selecting Edit > Preferences > Performance > Real-Time Drawing and Editing (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > Performance > Real-Time Drawing and Editing (macOS).
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